Gbemisola Ikumelo on Writing and Acting, Fun on Set, and Reaching a Global Audience

Words: Jenn Lehwald | Photography: Lewis Vorn | Styling: Katy Cutbirth | Chelsea Frei Makeup: Kenneth Soh | Chelsea Frei Hair: Kelsey Gustovitch | Gbemisola Ikumelo Makeup: Tay Rivera | Gbemisola Ikumelo Hair: Porshawna Mosely | Ramona Young Makeup: Sarah Nelson | Ramona Young Hair: Ryan Burrell | Sabrina Impacciatore Hair: Andrew Ly | Sabrina Impacciatore Makeup: Sabrina Rinaldi | Special Thanks: Margaret Crane, Alex Wong and Olivia Cooper at Universal TV

Make it stand out

Gbemisola Ikumelo has never seemed particularly interested in putting herself in one box. Her career has shifted between acting, writing and comedy, and on The Paper she’s found herself doing something that feels like it checks all of those boxes: playing Adelola Olofin, while also helping to write her. Rather than being handed a fully formed character, Ikumelo was part of the process of figuring out who Adelola actually was, working alongside the writers and cast to figure out the small details that helped fully form her character.

Ikumelo remembers a point around a decade ago when she suddenly realised she was, in her own words, “quite good” at acting. That realisation didn’t make the insecurity she initially felt in performance disappear - she’s quick to admit that every new job can shake her confidence - but the difference now is that she trusts herself enough to find her way back more quickly.

For all the talk of learning balance and knowing when to say no, Ikumelo’s ambition remains completely intact. She has always wanted to reach a global audience, and, ultimately, get to “the moon”. It’s an appropriate goal for someone who describes storytelling as her heartbeat.

What has it been like for you having The Paper out in the world?

I've loved seeing this show come out and I've been really excited and nervous in that first season because there's so much expectation based on the world of The Office that we started with.

It's been so lovely seeing The Paper gain its new fans, and fans from The Office, who are mostly just loving and appreciating that it's its own thing and its own universe. Even though it is set within the wider universe of The Office, it can also be its own thing and stand alone. So I've loved that, and I've loved people responding to that and letting us sort of stand on our own feet as a show. That's been quite great.

What was the experience like working with your castmates, and how did it feel returning to work with them for Season 2?

I was so excited to come back and do a second season. What's lovely is that we can sort of blow the dust off things that we've tried. We know that certain things are working this time, and we know things that maybe we wanted to pivot on or grow on.

I love that there were characters that had natural chemistry and we got to build on that. I just loved hanging out with the [cast], getting lunch with them, sitting in each other's trailers, and, in between takes, going and hanging out at so-and-so's desk and throwing sweets at Melvin's head, or doing whatever we would do and just messing around with each other and having fun.

I think I got to spend more time with different people in the cast this series, so it was really lovely. I had so much fun.

It's been so lovely seeing The Paper gain its new fans, and fans from The Office, who are mostly just loving and appreciating that it's its own thing and its own universe.

When you first read Adelola, what was it about her that immediately clicked for you? Was there anything about her that you initially found difficult to understand?

I think with the character of Adelola, and in fact a lot of the characters, they weren't necessarily characters we read when we approached the show as actors.

I was also in the writers' room, so I was maybe coming at it from a different perspective. We were building and developing these characters as we went along.

Very early on, it was more about speaking to Greg about what he thought the character was and who he thought the character was, and then building upon that in the writers' room. The other cast members were also doing much the same - having a sense of, "This is what we think the character is," but the actors also steered the writers and us in the writers' room as to what the characters could be.

I remember having conversations with some of the cast and talking about little things, like, "I don't really do this for a hobby," or, "I don't like this kind of food," and finding those little moments. They would subtly find their way into the show and into the character and feed into the character.

So I think the cast really led that, and the writers as well. I guess, long story short, I don't think there was a sort of Adelola moment. I think what was more fun was being a part of building the Adelola that we got to see.

For me specifically, I remember coming to some epiphanies about the character quite late in the process. I remember realising that I think, in the earlier sessions of discussion, we were giving her a very studious sort of feel. She was very hardworking, and I kind of thought, "What if she's peaked too soon?"

She's very smart, she's gone to college and kind of burnt out, and actually has taken this job in the office as sort of a means to an end — to just do adulting without completely pissing off her parents, and being able to just keep herself above water.

A character like that, against some of these more ambitious characters, I just thought would be a lot more fun to play. But it also gives her somewhere to go because, as Ned comes in and sort of inspires everyone, I like the idea of her slowly coming out of that "I don't want to be here" shell.

So that was fun to discover about her.

Is there anything about Adelola that has stayed with you after filming — a way of thinking, behaving or looking at people that you didn't expect?

I eat a lot more sweets now.

Adelola, I think, has a sweet tooth, and just through us being on set, there's this massive bowl of sweets that I asked for. I just said, "I don't think she drinks or smokes, but I think she just eats sweets a lot."

I don't really have a sweet tooth, but by the end of that, I was just sort of nicking sweets off the set myself for me to enjoy outside of the shoot.

So, yeah, I've probably picked up Adelola's bad habits of stealing sweets off set.

You've built an incredible body of work over the years, and The Paper is reaching a particularly wide global audience. Has that level of recognition changed the way you think about your career?

In all honesty, no. I think I've had a very solid plan, and that was to reach a wide global audience, so I feel like I'm on track.

In terms of where I'm at, it feels very much like some amazing milestones are being hit, and I still have a ways to go before I'll ever be satisfied with anything that I've achieved.

But I guess what The Paper doing things in this sort of global space is just really affirming about some of the things I had planned and going, "Oh, it's almost like I did this on purpose," which is very encouraging.

Do you feel more confident in your instincts as an actor now than you did a few years ago? If yes, what has given you that confidence?

I remember about maybe — it's got to be about 10 years ago, maybe a little bit longer — where one day, I can't remember what I was doing, I couldn't tell you where I was, but I remember just going, "Oh damn, I think I'm quite good at this."

I think I've gotten better at this over the years because you just do. I think as you grow and you keep working on a thing, you can't help but get better.

But I think maybe around 10 or 12 years ago, I noticed it and I went, "Oh, interesting. I'm alright at this."

And I think knowing that suddenly and going, "Oh, I've really grown into this space as a performer where I'm trusting myself more," begets more trusting. Then that pays off, and then you trust yourself more, until you go, "Yeah, I'm pretty darn good."

That doesn't mean that it doesn't get shaken every job, but I think the time of recovery from insecurity to confidence again is quicker because that moment happened, and I keep holding on to it.

Back in the day, when I was younger — and I do think all actors, to an extent, have insecurity; that's what brought us into the industry in the first place — those moments of insecurity could last so long. But now I'm able to battle that better and win. So that's cool

It feels very much like some amazing milestones are being hit, and I still have a ways to go before I'll ever be satisfied with anything that I've achieved.

Has success changed what you're willing to say no to?

Absolutely not. My agents have changed what I'm willing to say no to.

If it weren't for my amazing agents and my team, I think I would just be driving to people's houses and going, "Hey, do you want to join me to do a monologue for free?"

My agents and my team, and the people around me who are like, "You need to get paid," and "You need to have strategy in terms of things that you won't say yes to," and having some discernment — I think my team are very good at doing that.

There's obviously things that I would be like, "Oh my gosh, I have to do that." But on the other side of it, with the nos, it's much harder. It's much harder for me with the nos, for sure.

What are you ambitious for now? Has the definition of ambition changed for you?

The definition of ambition has not changed for me because, you know, my initial ambition was world domination or something equally insane, and we're nowhere near that.

I think I've always been like, "The moon. That's what I want. I want the moon." And so until I get the moon, we're still gonna work, we're still gonna hustle.

Hustle culture is not really dead for me. It never died. So I'm very ambitious and will probably always be. Maybe actually what has changed is me realising that within that sort of career — that need for career growth and building and always building and always building — there are things that I can let go of.

I'm not saying every single thing I have to do. It's not every finger in every pie. A bit like what my agents have taught me, there are some things I can say no to, or there are some dreams that I can let go of because actually the ultimate dream is still in play.

So, yeah, I think maybe I've had to just learn more balance with those things. But the ambition side of it? No, that's not changed.

What do you want people to understand about you that they couldn't possibly get from watching you on screen?

I think I would like people to know that telling stories is my heartbeat.

I have to tell stories. It kind of feels like an extension of what I've been put on earth to do — to sort of almost intercede within the human psyche by figuring out who people are, getting to the heartbeat and the crux of who they are, and telling their stories.

Whether in a comedic sense, a dramatic sense, a written sense, a poetic sense — however it is that I get to tell stories, that's what I want to do.

It's not always the case that people might know that from watching me act on the screen. I also want to tell stories through the written word or through other ways.

I'm basically a storyteller. That sounds a bit like... but I am. And I love stories. I love telling stories, I love hearing stories and seeing them and watching them.

Yeah, I don't know if that's answered the question, but that's what I want people to understand about me.